My family has been going through the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series for family night. It’s been really fun, but more than that–it’s been very enlightening. And I’m not talking eastern mysticism. I mean truth. We recently finished the series, and this article is about a specific scene on the very last disc, so–I’ll only say this once–SPOILER ALERT!!!

Zuko was an amazing character. He was really childish at first. I didn’t like him–he didn’t even look cool with that ridiculous ponytail making his scar stick out like a sore thumb. But as the series went on, I grew to appreciate his pain and struggle, because it was relatable. He was meant to represent the very essence of the struggle between light and darkness, between good and evil. And, honestly, I think the writer(s) did a pretty good job with that. There’s not always an easy answer or a clear path. And we all have scars from past wounds. Usually from someone with our last name….The madness and mental instability, the pain and struggle–that’s relateable. Now, this story was made for children, so we can scream out the obvious right answer from the sidelines (like he can really hear us) and think of him as an idiot for choosing darkness–AGAIN. But, when we take a look at our own lives, when it is us on stage with everyone else on the sidelines, we realize that it’s not so easy to see the big picture. All we can see is what’s right in front of us. Everything else gets lost in the moment. We choose the dark far more often than Zuko, honestly. We are far more dual than we care to admit….

I have acted in plays before. I can tell you that there’s this funny feeling I get when I’m up on stage. It’s like my mind goes completely blank, and it’s only because I’ve carved my lines into my mind that I can remember them at all. Everything feels kinda hazy–like I’m doing everything on-the-fly. No practice, no prep, it’s all me in my bare nakedness, just winging it and hoping I don’t ruin everything. I can sit back and laugh at that now, because I’m not standing on a stage. Or, rather, because I don’t see the stage I’m standing on. Yet aren’t I doing the same exact thing every day of my life? I’m just flailing around, trying to get my lines right, messing things up A LOT, and just hoping that, in the end, it’ll all come together and touch the audience somehow. The world is my stage, and I’m a character in this play whether I want to be or not. If you watched my life, you could sit back and yell at me from the sidelines about what an idiotic decision I’m making and how it’s so obvious I should be doing something else (and, believe me, you’d be doing that a lot), but, like Zuko, I get lost in it all and I’m just trying to make it, struggling between the darkness and the light, never really understanding which one is going to satisfy me, even though the answer is obvious. In the end, though, like Zuko, I choose the light. But not before a lot of scars are made and a lot of people are hurt….

Despite Zuko’s folly, I grew to love him as a character. Sure, he WAS pretty childish, but remember he was still basically a child. He was terribly sorry for all he had done, but there was nothing he could do to make it right. His suffering would not make it right. Good works would not make it right. Correct philosophy could not fix the damage. What does one do when they kneel before the one they’ve hurt and there is nothing–NOTHING–they can do to fix it?

The answer is only that mercy is necessary. Because vengeance, violence, suffering–these things will not heal. They will only worsen the pain. So, the answer is obvious. You are at the victim’s mercy. Literally. You must be at their mercy. They have to let go of the past and grow something new in its place….

And that moment, when Zuko knelt before his uncle, tears streaming down his face, begging Iroh to forgive him for all his foolishness–that moment as Iroh clutched Zuko tightly in his arms, tears streaming down his own face–that moment when Zuko was unworthy but found grace–it struck a chord with me. It resonated with my own heart. Because, there I was, kneeling before the One I had betrayed, the One who had loved me, cherished me, grown me, cared for me–I was kneeling before the One whom I had hurt the most, tears streaming down my face, begging for forgiveness–and I found grace. I could have wept. The moment was moving for me. It touched me deeply. This was no children’s tale. It is the story of every prodigal son who ever knelt before their Father figure and found grace. Countless lives, innumerable souls, all finding the same grace He extends freely to everyone who will take it. Because, like Uncle Iroh with Zuko, God loves us deeply and only wants what is best for us. He sits there by our side while we drive around madly on a wild goose chase, going a 100 miles an hour in the wrong direction, and He sighs, trying to steer us the other way. But we don’t listen. He stays with us as, time after time, we fail in our endeavors to bring satisfaction to our souls and honour to our name, and He tries to tell us the answer. But we don’t listen. He leaves us in silence as we fume and rage, trying to find our own way. He weeps with our weeping, rejoices for our small gains, and ever watches, heavily, as we choose darkness over and over again, betraying Him with our every step….And, after we have run our last mile, worn out all our efforts, and come to our wits’ end, He whispers to us softly the hard truth. It is then that the paths diverge….

Some of us, as Zuko did, will ultimately choose the light, and will come weeping before Him with all our shattered pieces, expecting all the well-deserved wrath to be poured out on us. But, instead, He wraps us up in His arms, weeping for our ultimate return to Him, cherishing our very being, though we’ve hurt Him more than we’ve hurt anyone else. He gives grace, and, ultimately, He will let us rule with Him in a new kingdom of prosperity and peace and love….

Yet others will be Azula, choosing the maddening darkness until their very last breath, and meeting the ultimate ruin of their own selves, because they would not heed the light. For all my lack of care for Azula throughout the series, in that last moment, when she is wailing and squalling like a small child, trapped and helpless, at her literal wits’ end, I had nothing but pity for her. I wanted to help her, but there was nothing left to help….

As for the Fire Lord, well….We know his end. His power will ultimately be taken away, to do no more harm to anyone ever again….

For now, I’m still on the stage. I’m still flailing and wandering. I’m still being clutched in my adoptive Father’s arms, still weeping because the pain is yet too near, the struggle yet too real. I am still often betraying Him, yet I find a neverending supply of grace. He has every right to be angry–to eliminate me–but He chooses to love and forgive me instead. And that brings healing. That brings redemption. Because of that, I am being made new. And this, my friend, is the greatest redemption story ever. 🙂

~Peeps~

***DISCLAIMER: Images used in this article are not mine! They are strictly the porperty of their original poster….***

What can I say that has not already been said? Live like Jesus. Walk in His steps. If He needs clothed, clothe Him. If He needs food, feed Him. If He needs medical aid, aid Him. If He needs upliftment, uplift Him. Whatever the need, we are called to meet it. And He said that if you do these things to the least of these, you have done them to Him. (Matthew 25) Let us go forth weeping and sewing so that we may return rejoicing, bringing our sheaves with us (Psalm 126:). Let us help the sick. Let us aid the weary. 🙂

Indeed, my parents were wrapping gifts and finding a place to put them (since we didn’t put a tree up this year) while my brothers chatted away excitedly in their room (sharing a wall with mine. Fun.). Even I was up, but I couldn’t breathe (Sinuses. Only in Mississippi are there tornado watches/warnings in 70°F weather at Christmas time). Christmas lost some of its magic for me some time ago, when I truly experienced the materialism of our culture. We opted for a small Christmas this year. So, I wasn’t quite so excited about gifts. I wanted it to be about more than that. I wanted to focus on higher things. Focus….

So, I decided to read some Scripture (sleeping wasn’t really an option, even if it was 9:30pm and I hadn’t slept well the night before). What to read? Well, what better place than in Luke for this season? So, I decided to start at the very beginning. Chapter 1.

I didn’t get far.

Something immediately got my attention. Verses 5-6 of Chapter 1——

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”

I did a double-take. Now, I don’t know about you, but I thought Mary was quite somebody, the way she took the whole thing. But this! This was way more mind-blowing! Did I just read that Zacharias and Elisabeth walked in the law blamelessly??? I understand that they were sinners like the rest of us, but apparently they were doing pretty well at this time in their lives! I mean, to be called “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless”! That’s serious stuff! I started thinking about that….

What would I give for the same to be said of me? Righteous before God…Walking in all His commands blamelessly….What would I give for such a powerful testimony?

This thought seemed to coincide with another thought that has been haunting me lately. Afterall, what are His commands that we should walk in? Well, I can tell you one major one:

(James 1:27; KJV)

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

This one “command” is very powerful to me. This ordinance, established primarily in the Old Testament, has impacted my life in a more violent way than perhaps any other ordinance I’ve found. And I still struggle with it….

What, God? Haven’t you seen the widows around here? They are crazy! Out of it! They don’t really need me. Besides, that’s someone else’s job. Oh. And the fatherless? They may be more messed up! How do you expect me to minister to that little boy whose Daddy is in prison and whose Momma can’t have him by law? He is absolutely messed up! I mean, do you see the way he acts?! And oh my goodness—the way he talks! No way. Not my mission field. Orphans? Er…I don’t know any…..So, that’s out of the question….What? What do you mean, “What’s your mission field then”? I have a mission field…..er….Well, you know….there are people….around….that come in contact with me occassionally….Well, what did You expect? I’m not perfect, afterall!

For years, even though I never dared to say such things to the Most Holy and High God of the Universe, I nevertheless thought them (indirectly) in my mind. I dodged around doing my part. And I am ashamed to say that it took a series of near-death experiences for me to wake up. I still try to blind myself often, but it’s over. God has completely wrecked my life. I can never go back again. It’s too painful to stay where I am. I must move forward.

So, why not strive to be blameless in at least this command? What I have found while reaching out of my comfort zone, was that it’s not so bad when God is already there waiting to bless everyone involved. Sure—I’m not completely comfortable. I’d just as soon be at home playing Legend of Zelda Windwaker on the Wii than be in a Nursing Home with an old woman I barely know. Yet, when I did reach out or saw others reach out, I found something of far greater worth that I hadn’t seen before: beauty in the ashes, treasure in the brokeness. The smile of an old woman who is usually all alone at Christmas. when someone suddenly reaches out and helps the her find joy this season. The sparkle in the eye of the orphan who receives a gift for the first time. The neediness and hurt of the fatherless child finding healing in time spent with a new mentor. What these things are doing are of far greater value and beauty than imaginable. And all because someone followed God’s commands, perhaps not perfectly, but at least blamelessly.

So, this Christmas season, let us truly analyze whose life we can impact. Let us visit the widow and fatherless in their distress and try to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Let us reach out and love somebody.

To go with this, I thought we should listen to our brother TobyMac, who is bringing us partially into the shoes of an orphan with a need:

——————————————-

“This Christmas (Father of the Fatherless)”

By: Nirva Ready and TobyMac

Now Jonnie never got his wish December 25th

That’s what he said when we left the orphanage

Nine years old, but Jonnie was an old soul

Gonna spend his first Christmas in a real home

Then he showed me a picture he made the night before

A drawing of a man standin’ outside the door

He said, “I see him in my dreams

He comforts me when I can’t sleep”

Father of the fatherless

Be with your sons and daughters this Christmas

This Christmas

“Believe in angels?”

He asked starin’ at the sky

I said I do and saw a sparkle in his eye

Big brother for the weekend, respondin’ to the season

I took the chance that givin’s better than receivin’

Two nights, a new family, some holiday cheer

We laughed and sang

Came on a midnight clear

We gave, received, and as we headed to a close

We looked to the heavens, and it started snowing blessings

Father of the fatherless

Be with your sons and daughters this Christmas, this Christmas

(You ain’t livin’ ‘til you choose to give

Love and joy and peace to one of His)

Father let us not forget

The children who are all alone this Christmas, this Christmas

(You ain’t livin’ ‘til you choose to give

Love and joy and peace to one of His)

[James 1:27]

Religion that God our Father

Accepts as pure and faultless is this:

That we look after orphans and widows in their distress

Merry Christmas everyone

Joy to the world

The Lord is come

Let Heaven and nature sing

Let Heaven and nature sing

Let Heaven and nature sing

Big brother turned dad in a couple weeks

Some gifts give more than you could ever dream

Started out as a plan just to do my part,

But that little man went and stole my heart

Father of the fatherless

Be with your sons and daughters this Christmas, this Christmas

(You ain’t livin’ ‘til you choose to give

Love and joy and peace to one of His)

Father let us not forget

The children who are all alone this Christmas, this Christmas

(You ain’t livin’ ‘til you choose to give

Love and joy and peace to one of His)

Let Heaven and nature sing

Let Heaven and nature sing

[x2]

From me and mine, to you and yours…

Merry Christmas

This year, reach out and love somebody, y’all

——————————————-

★DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

Our dear sister Kinuko has blessed my heart deeply with one of her recent posts. I pray you to take a moment and read her encouragement to sisters around the globe who feel like they are in the mist and cannot get out.

I have been thinking….I have noticed that we tend to get tangled up in things that don’t matter. Concepts of the way things should be, for no apparent reason at all. Don’t get me wrong: There’s a time and place for everything (Ecclesiastes teaches that.) And there are certainly things the Bible prohibits at certain times/places (for example: 1Corinthians 14:34-35). But there are a LOT of things that we hold onto that are not commanded in the Bible. I don’t really know why we hold to them so tightly. But we do. And today, seeing it is my birthday, I want to address one of them:

Our age.

I started thinking about this a week or two ago. Why does it matter what I say my age is? I get that “17” tells you how many years I’ve lived on earth by the generally-accepted calendar dates and doctor-written times. But what does that matter? What does that mean? What bearing does it have? Isn’t our age just a number? If a certain lady wants to call herself 29 for the rest of her life, what does it matter? If I want to refer to my age in line with my schooling*, what does it matter? It has no effect on my life, really (as for the age to vote/drink/etc., I care for none of them). It leaves no mark on others. So, what does it matter how old I am or what my default age is? The truth is: I don’t think it does.

As I thought more on this, I started seeing something I had previously only seen glimpses of. What if maturity is the important thing here anyway? Honestly, as I look around, I realize that maturity seems to be lost for most western countries. What if we viewed the 50-year-old who is living like a teenager as a little girl and the 12-year-old who is living like a young lady as a woman? I think that would be the more accurate description—not how long we’ve lived.

So, today, if you ask me how old I am, I will ask you this question: “Do you want my elected age or my default age?” Because the truth is: it doesn’t really matter. But for myself I ask, “Am I a young lady, becoming a woman, more meek and quiet and mature daily for the Lord?” This is the question I ponder today. Not how old I am.

*I am homeschooled. I made the decision to split my 11th and 12th grade years into two years each for various reasons. We call my remaining years 11a, 11b, 12a, and 12b. I’m currently on 11b. So, by my elected age, I would be 16b this year, 17a next year, and 17b the next year. Then, I’ll turn 18 and go on my merry way. 🙂 But, by my default age (a.k.a. “normal”), I turn 17 this year. ^~^

1. sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy: to feel pity for a starving child.>

[Definition according to Dictionary.com.]

This definition perfectly describes and captures this word. Pity. What does it mean to have pity? The Bible describes God as pitiful (or full of pity):

(James 5:11)

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

(KJV)

We that are His know this to be true. We know of the pity of God. How He loves us and is merciful toward us. We know this very intimately and we are grateful! Yet there is something that we often do not consider: that the Bible also commands us to be pitiful—

(1Peter 3:8-9)

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing:but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

(KJV)

Now, this particular verse is speaking more concerning forgiveness for wrongs done to us. But I want to focus more on the compassion side of it. Pity for the suffering. Do we, who are being made slowly more and more into the image and glory of God, follow His example of pity? Do we pity the poor, the fatherless, the suffering, the rejected, the starving, the destitute? Do we pity and care for those in need? You know, the Bible speaks much about God being the defender of the poor:

(Psalm 12:5)

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,

now will I arise, saith the Lord;

I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

(KJV)

(Psalm 14:6)

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor,

because the Lord is his refuge.

(KJV)

(Psalm 69:33)

For the Lord heareth the poor,

and despiseth not his prisoners.

(KJV)

(Psalm 72:12-14)

For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth;

the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

He shall spare the poor and needy,

and shall save the souls of the needy.

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence:

and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

(KJV)

(Psalm 140:12)

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

and the right of the poor.

(KJV)

(Psalm 9:18)

For the needy shall not alway be forgotten:

the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 23:10-11)

Remove not the old landmark;

and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

For their redeemer is mighty;

he shall plead their cause with thee.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 22:22-23)

Rob not the poor, because he is poor:

neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

For the Lord will plead their cause,

and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

(KJV)

Matter of fact, one of the primary purposes of God’s command to Israel to rest every seven years was so that the poor may be provided for:

(Exodus 23:11)

But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat:and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

(KJV)

See, our Lord Jesus knows the pain of the poor. He himself became poor and endured such horrid suffering. In one of the prophecies of His death, this picture is clearly painted for us:

(Psalm 69:20)

Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:

and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;

and for comforters, but I found none.

(KJV)

Yeshua Himself wept and mourned. He Himself took on the form of man (already such a far fall from His riches in glory!), but not just a man—a poor man. A carpenter’s son. He Himself—the Lord of the universe—experienced the overwhelming trials of poverty and the pain or the lack of pity taken on the poor.

Seeing that He suffered so in poverty and that He sees the poor in their suffering, one can understand why God would have such a heavy heart for them. But He has chosen His people as the tool to provide for the poor. Now, one might think this a burden. But think. God could very easily provide for them Himself. So why doesn’t He? Why does He chose to use us? Get this: we get rewards for the good we do to them! And not just that! We get spiritual blessings and joys from it! We are taught many a spiritual lesson through them (such as humility, sincerity, temprance, faith, etc.) and find our deepest dependance on God when we are with the poor. God wants to use us so that He may bless us! It is part of His ultimate love toward us!

So, do we take pity on the poor?

I can’t help but say, “No.” on behalf of my people. My dearest friends, I look around just my bedroom (preoccupied by a sixteen-year-old girl alone) and want to weep. So cluttered that it’s hard to keep it clean, it is full of mostly junk I hardly use. And I look at myself in the mirror and want to puke. I gorge myself daily and laugh with my congregation members about how much I overeat. But this is no joke to the Lord. While we are busy hoarding it all to ourselves and working to get even more, every ~3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of hunger. Stop for a moment and take in the reality of that. It has probably taken you about 5 minutes (and that’s for the faster readers) to have read this much if this article. By the previous statistic, ~83 people died of starvation while you were reading this…………..Does anyone else notice a problem? Meanwhile, I eat enough in one meal to support an orphaned child through Holt International* for two or three days’ worth of meals! This is no joke. God takes this very seriously. Firstly, overeating is a sin (a sin of excessiveness; Philippians 4:5). Secondly, it does not just affect you. It kills other people. And considering it is done willfully, it could be considered murder to God. I don’t know. But I do know this: God takes it seriously. How much jewelry do you own? How many sodas do you drink in a day? How many concerts or expensive restaurants do you go to? How many cars do you have? And don’t think that I exclude myself in this. But this has torn me up over the past year. I cannot stop thinking about it. I no longer can laugh at overeating. I can no longer push it off like it’s nothing. For the first time in my life, surrounded by a culture that overlooks it almost completely, I am beginning to see the heart of my Lord, my Love, in this matter. And it hurts. I started noticing the passages I had simply overlooked before. And for those who will hear it, read a portion of what Scripture has to say about this (because this is by no means all of them. Simply the more promenent ones.):

(Proverbs 21:13)

Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,

he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 21:21)

He that followeth after righteousness and mercy

findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 21:26)

He [the slothful] coveteth greedily all the day long:

but the righteous giveth and spareth not.

(KJV)

(1John 3:17-18)

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

(KJV)

(James 2:14-20)

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:the devils also believe, and tremble.

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

(KJV)

(Proverbs 28:27)

He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack:

but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 29:7)

The righteous considereth the cause of the poor:

but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 11:17)

The merciful man doeth good to his own soul:

but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 14:20-21)

The poor is hated even of his own neighbour:

but the rich hath many friends.

He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth:

but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 14:31)

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker:

but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 19:17)

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord;

and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

(KJV)

(Psalm 10:2)

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor:

let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

(KJV)

(Psalm 41:1)

Blessed is he that considereth the poor:

the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

(KJV)

(Psalm 82:3-4)

Defend the poor and fatherless:

do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Deliver the poor and needy:

rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

(KJV)

(Proverbs 22:9)

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed;

for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

(KJV)

O my dearest, dearest sisters and brothers in Christ, how often do we misrepresent our God by the lack of pity we take on the poor! This article today is a call, a call to all those who will hear, a call to band together in unity, love, pity, and compassion! This is a call to obedience to our overwhelmingly loving and pitiful Lord! Will you please join me in an effort to free the poor from not simply their physical suffering, but also their spiritual bondage? Will you not stand up for what the Lord has commanded? Will we not change the world by such a call to compassion? All the skeptics, all the critics, what will they have to say to such a thing? For long years they have rejected our God because of our lack of love. Will you not stand with me to win back the name of Jehovah? Will you not stand with me to show the world who our God, Yaweh, truly is? Not that He needs us, but that He delights in using us for His glory. So let us then stand. Let us then answer to the call of the poor, “Yaweh reigns and cares. Here He is, living in and through each and every one of His people.” Give the world the so desperately needed light. Give them the hope that they are thirsting for. Give them Jesus.

In a last closing, I want to share with you a poem that I wrote a little while back. I truly believe it was given me. It is from the perspective of a poor widowed woman. In a time of emotional distress over the poverty of people worldwide, I could not sleep. It was a quiet night. I had just watched a movie about orphans in India. I was grieved. I could find no rest. For the first time ever in my life, reality had clutched my heart and soul. In a fit of weeping and mourning and praying, the words of this poem came to me. I quickly wrote them down. Though it may not be perfect rhyme or rythem, I pray that it touches your heart as much as it did mine that night and ever since. Thank you.